I think the deal here is this -- if your real wages are stagnant or declining (as they have been for 'average' Americans since the Reagan revolution for the wealthy), then you might be trying to mask this by purchasing less expensive (ie foreign) goods.

So I suppose we have some responsibility -- if only we simply recognized our declining standard of living by not buying clothes, electronics, cars, toys, etc. then we would be 'taking one for the Gipper' as that great revolutionary for the wealthy said in one of his movies.

We as consumers must take some responsibility by demanding things to be ever cheaper.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."Reality Internet Personality

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Absolutely. But it says nothing about a law requiring people to not sleep in the park.

Dull, many of us would prefer to do our duties, pay taxes and the rest but have been precluded by this race to turn our work force into a third world standard.
I ask what of any value to our society did you create with your clever stock trade? Did it create more food, clothing or shelter?

I ask what of any value to our society did you create with your clever stock trade? Did it create more food, clothing or shelter?

Actually, yes. What do you think cash from a clever trade is used for?

To buy food, clothing, and spend on shelter.

This reduces inventory at whatever business these items were bought.

Usually, inventory is then replenished. This keeps jobs going for People in Society.

Even if Every Item is made outside The US, the item was bought here in The US and a US Citizen(or illegal) handled this item. You know, through trucking, warehousing, stocking, cashiering, and other things such. Including owning, managing The Business which handles the items.

And The Stock Trading Transaction itself? I'm sure some Americans were involved in The Trade and got a cut of The $9.99. AND SPENT IT HERE IN AMERICA AT AN AMERICAN STORE.

Must I go on with this. Do you get The Picture?

I hope The Occupiers have more of A Grasp of Wall Street than is displayed here.

You tell me! They seem pretty lame, compared to the CND protesters that we used to get 'camped' outside the main gate of the RAF station I was stationed at, years ago. Perhaps the modern 'protester', enjoys rather too much, the 'gifts' that the system they hate so much, allows them to have, or lacks that level of conviction.

From a personal perspective, when people were paid by cash for the work they'd done, at the end of the week, the banks were a place you might put your spare cash into. Once the method by which one was paid (and the frequency), changed, the banks then had vast sums of money to 'play with'....in total, massive sums that would never have been 'available' to them, when we were paid in cash. So, what changed all that? You will find no argument from me, that the banks need to be more strictly controlled....especially if you'd paid out some of the insanely high bank charges that I have.

Never, ever, ever, have I been paid by my main employer, in cash. Payment in cash occurred when I was in high school and helped out someone on their farm for a day or so and they paid me cash "under the table" for that day of help.
For any "real" job, it's been by check. And that is going back to the 1980s.
What changed, 10-15 years ago, was the insistence that the checks be direct deposited.

P.S.-so what's this about there were no bank failures from 1930 to 1980?

Targeting Wall Street but hurting small vendors instead
About 40 vendors who sell on the City Hall lawn every Thursday were forced off the property after Occupy L.A. protesters refused to remove their encampment. The irony of the mini-businesses being hurt isn't lost on the demonstrators.
By Esmeralda Bermudez, Los Angeles Times

October 30, 2011, 8:14 p.m.
The Occupy movement came to Los Angeles aiming for Wall Street titans, but farmers market vendors are the first to take a real hit.

Two weeks ago, about 40 vendors who sell on the City Hall lawn every Thursday were forced off the property after protesters refused to remove their city of tents.

The mini-businesses — produce farmers, popcorn poppers, flower sellers — were abruptly moved by city officials to a new and less visible location across Main Street. Since that relocation, profits have plummeted, vendors have pulled out and shoppers have become scarce.
...
The decision was made through a vote Oct. 19, she said. Close to a hundred demonstrators cast votes. Nearly everyone agreed to move, but a handful did not. Because decisions required unanimous approval, the handful won, Fennelly said.

Gosh 100%?! In the US Senate it is 60%. So one person can block anything. Someone told me democracy was 50% plus one vote. Must be the new math.

A New York City cafe cut its staff by nearly 25 percent last week because of lost business due to the ongoing Occupy Wall Street protests, the cafe's owner told FoxNews.com.

Marc Epstein, owner of the Milk Street Cafe at 40 Wall Street in lower Manhattan, said he had to cut 21 of the 97 members of his staff on Thursday and Friday after seeing sales plummet by 30 percent in the six weeks since the protests began. He's also been forced to slash the restaurant operating hours, moving up his closing time from 9 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays.

The incessant noise and police activity aside, Epstein said the biggest obstacle to his business has been the ubiquitous New York police barricades surrounding Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan.

"It's not only a physical impediment, it's a psychological impediment," Epstein told FoxNews.com. "You look down Wall Street now, and it looks like it's under siege. So, people who have to walk down Wall Street don't walk down Wall Street. It used to be a beautiful pedestrian mall, and now it's not -- it's ugly."

More jobs lost to Occupy. How soon before the only job is state police officer?